|
The school system of San Mateo County embraces the kindergarten, the primary
schools, the grammar schools and high schools.
From the time children reach school age until ready for the university, they may
attend school and remain at their own homes. Throughout all this time they arc
pursuing a well laid out and carefully planned course which completely covers,
in a minimum time, alll that is required by the laws of the state. Further than
this, most of the pupils are not only taught the statutory subjects but are also
given instruction in manual and domestic arts as well as in drawing and music.
To cover this work and to accommodate the five thousand boys and girls in
attendance throughout the county, there are five kindergartens, thirty-three
elementary and four high school districts, employing 190 teachers. The cost of
maintaining this system during the school year of 1914-1915 was $308,761.00.
The teachers of San Mateo County are practically all university or normal
trained, whose salaries, while not high, are so fair as to assure few changes in
the department each year.
The buildings and equipment in the majority of districts are as fine as can be
found.
The pupils of the public schools of San Mateo County represent most of the
nationalities of the civilized world, and arc as a rule bright and active,
responding readily to the instruction given them. A large percentage of those
who graduate from the grammar schools attend high schools.
The high school students who are graduates of the elementary schools of this
county, are in practically all cases found to be proficient in their work,
whether they come from the graded town school or the ungraded, one-room school
of the smaller communities. The high schools of San Mateo County maintain an
unusually high standard, graduates being admitted to the different universities
and normal schools without examination. The courses of instruction are varied;
and while the scholastic branches are carefully followed, practical business
instruction, skill in carpentering and home keeping or domestic science are so
taught that pupils are well equipped mentally and physically to grasp the
opportunities that present themselves upon graduation. In short, it may be said
that San Mateo County has as good a school system as can be found in the State
of California.
Concerning the high schools of the county, only two-those of San Mateo and
Redwood City will be described in detail, as they are the largest.
The San Mateo Union High School is the largest in the county. having an
enrollment in 1916 of 250 pupils and employing seventeen teachers. This high
school has achieved a remarkable growth during the last ten years, in which time
its enrollment has about quintupled, while the list of teachers has quadrupled.
In addition to being the largest high school in the county, the San Mateo Union
High School has the distinction of being the only school in the state furnishing
free text books, purchased by the school for both day and evening classes. They
are the property of the school and arc issued on library cards for a designated
period of time. Another interesting feature of the school work is the actual
printing of a very creditable school paper entitled, "The San Mateo Hi." A
military feature has been added to the school curriculum which includes drilling
and rifle practice. The equipment for the above is also furnished by the school.
A night school with an enrollment of 150 students is maintained by the San Mateo
Union High School, in which practically all the subjects taught during the day
may be studied in the evening.
An important feature of the school's curriculum is the department of manual
training in which the voting men may learn the fundamentals of carpentering,
joining, cabinet making, turning and machine practice. Domestic Science is
taught for the benefit of the young ladies, the course including full
instructions in cooking, food values and the serving of a meal. Another pleasant
branch of the school work is the School Band and Orchestra.
The San Mateo High School is constructed of reinforced concrete, and was erected
at a cost of $295.000.00, including the value of the property upon which it
stands. This includes a $35,000.00 gymnasium with ample provision for outdoor
sports on the school grounds. An auditorium, seating five hundred, an automatic
ventilating and cleansing plant, and a system of artesian well water are among
the features of the school buildings.
Mr. W. L. Glascock is principal of the San Mateo Union High School, and San
Mateo Union Evening High School.
The Sequoia Union High School of Redwood City, of which Samuel Pressly McCrea,
A. M., has for ten years been the principal, has few peers among the small high
schools of California. Serving the large territory. from Menlo Park to Belmont
and from the bay front to the mountains, it is one of the most important
educational institutions in San Mateo County, and considerably the oldest.
The Sequoia Union High School first opened its doors to students on September
16, 1895 with David A. Curry as principal, and for nine years was housed in the
grammar school building of Redwood City. At that time it had an enrollment of
only a few students, and the faculty had but three members. Under the first
principal 27 students were graduated.
In 1899 Frank S. Rosseter was chosen principal and in 1900 the school gained a
place on the accredited list of the State University which it has since
retained. In 1902 the San Mateo Union High School was opened, thus narrowing to
some extent the field from which students were drawn to Sequoia. In the five
years he was principal Mr. Rosseter graduated 66 students, and gave the school
some of the features it has since retained.
It has advanced steadily in usefulness and popularity, in time outgrowing its
first quarters, and increasing in numbers until it comfortably fills its
magnificent building which is one of the most imposing structures in Redwood
City.
Its registration is now 107 and the faculty has eight members. Its expenditures
are greater than those of a small college a generation ago, and its field of
work is considerably broader. It now covers History, Civics and Elementary
Economics; Latin, German and Spanish, the Physical Sciences and Mathematics,
English Literature and Composition, Bookkeeping, Stenography and Typewriting,
Drawing and Vocal Music, Domestic Science and Art, Carpentry and Cabinet Work.
Although only twenty years old, some of the county's leading men and women are
listed among its graduates. In the last ten years 131 students have been
graduated from the school, many of whom continued their studies until graduation
in Stanford University, the State Normal schools and other institutions. Of the
graduates of the last two classes, seven went to Stanford in 1915, one to the
College of the Pacific, two to the San Jose Normal, and one to the
San Francisco Normal. At least, the school is inspiring many students to go
higher.
To meet the modern school demands in secondary education many new departments
have been added. Drawing, Music, a four year Commercial course, Domestic
Science, and Manual Training are all features added during the last ten years.
The school is now planning to erect a special building for the work in
carpentering, blacksmithing, machine shop practice and other industrial arts.
This High School has already found it necessary to establish four regular
courses Literary, Scientific, Commercial and Industrial. Two of these are
designed to prepare for higher institutions, and the others for various
occupations.
For the first twelve years Geo. C. Ross of Belmont presided over the Board of
Trustees of the school. Since that time L. P. Behrens has acted in that
capacity, and except for two years, the latter has been a trustee of the High
School since it was opened in 1895. With such a record of achievement the future
is bright with promise.
The private schools of the county are known throughout the country for their
standing, ranking high among the famous institutions, both east and west.
One of the most important of these educational institutions in the county is the
Belmont School for Boys, now in its 31st year. This is primarily a college
preparatory school, as 329 of its 381 graduates have entered colleges or schools
of science, as follows: 175 entered the University of California, 100 entered
Stanford, and 54 entered Harvard, Yale, Cornell and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Eight other colleges received one or two each, leaving 44 to go
directly into business.
The school was founded by W. T. Reed, Harvard '68, soon after his retirement
from the presidency of the University of California. Through the financial
assistance of NV. H. Martin, he was enabled to purchase a portion of the famous
Ralston estate at Belmont, and the school was opened in August 1885 with fifteen
pupils.
Mr. Reed's varied experience in the Boston Latin School, in superintending the
public schools of Brookline, Massachusetts and in the San Francisco Boys' High
School had given him a familiarity with educational requirements that was of
great service to him in laying out the work that Belmont should do.
The grounds 45 acres in extent, lie on the lower slope of wooded hills almost
surrounding a valley which fronts the Bay of San Francisco. From the summit of
these hills may be seen Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tarnalpais and the chain of Crystal
Springs Lakes. A picturesque brook, edged by live-oaks, divides the buildings of
the school into two groups. On -the north arc two dormitories, the dining room
and the new Physical and Chemical Laboratory; on the south are the Senior House,
gymnasium, swimming tank, Head Master's house, the manual training shop, power
house and steam laundry.
The laboratory, Senior House and swimming tank, all lately built, have an
outside finish of plaster and red Mission tile roofs. The swimming tank has a
pool 75 by 32 feet, lined with white, glazed tiling and surrounded by a red tile
walk. The water is 8 feet deep at one end and 3 feet deep at the
other. It circulates through a heater, being kept at a temperature
of about 68 degrees, and also passes through a filter which, it is
claimed, keeps it freer from germs than when fresh drawn from the
water main. The gymnasium, with which the swimming tank is
connected, is supplied with shower baths, dressing rooms and
lockers.
The recreations include football, baseball, tennis,
basketball, swimming and dramatics; and to boys who are fond of
tramping and picnics, the hills, lakes and even the ocean furnish
inviting objective points.
Two housemothers give their entire time to the
well-being and happiness of the boys, while the matrons and the
wives of the teachers are all interested in creating a pleasant
school atmosphere.
As a means of securing the best physical development,
habits of neatness and prompt obedience, and to add to the esprit de
corps of the school, either the ordinary military drill or the
regular setting up exercises of the army are required three times a
week. The course of study covers 9 years. Pupils satisfactorily
covering the 45 units necessary for graduation, are admitted upon
the recommendation of the Head Master to all Colleges that admit on
certificate.
The system upon which, so far as practicable, the
discipline of the school is founded may be inferred from the school
motto, "On Honor" and the motto, "Ring True," which is cast into the
school bell. The faithful, straightforward boy is sensible of little
restraint, but it is intended to make the restraint seriously felt
by boys who are not readily reached by appeals to their sense of
duty and honor.
The school is non-sectarian but it is intended that it
shall be a Christian school and that its daily influence as well as
its Sunday services shall further the development of Christian
character.
On 63 Griffith Avenue, San Mateo is the San Mateo
Collegiate School for young ladies, conducted under the able
principalship of Mrs. Dora H. Shinn.
Notre Dame Convent at Redwood City, Sacred Heart
Academy, St. Joseph's Parochial School and St. Patrick's Seminary at
Menlo Park comprise the Catholic institutions of the county. The
first three give the usual courses, while the last named, with its
magnificent equipment and location in the center of a beautiful
natural park, is intended solely for the education of boys and young
men desiring to devote their lives to the priesthood. The seminary
was dedicated in 1898 by Archbishop Riordan. The buildings comprise
an administration building, a junior and senior college, a central
chapel, a detached service building, a distinct refectory, in
grandeur of conception, the peer of any in the country-all in
Romanesque style of architecture.
Home |
|
